Nail-transferring mechanism



March 3, 1942. .w.vs. DALLAS I NAIL-TRANSFERRING MECHANISM Filed July 18 1940 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 Nero-TRANSFERRING MECHANISM William S. Dallas, Beverly, Mass., assigner to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 18, 1940, `Serial No. 346,169

`(Gli lie-32)i 8 Claims.

My invention relates to mechanism by which nails may be received in groups or loads lfor delivery to inserting mechanism, it being of particular utility in connection with the transfer of such loads of nails to the die of a heel-attaching machine.

In nail-loading or transferring mechanism, the nailsV are commonly carried in passages formed in a member movable between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, they being supported upon a retaining member or gate, with which is associated a spring tending to urge it away from its nail-retaining relation. A latch engages the gate to temporarily hold it across the passages for the retention of `the nails. A well-known Varrangement for freeing the gate to effect naildelivery, is to bring said gate, as the nail-holding ymember rea-ches its delivering position, into engagement with a relatively fixed member. This bends the gate, which is of thin metal, away from a latching pin fast upon the loading member, leaving the spring free to act. This may be objectionable, because, as the gate leaves the pin, it sharply assumes its normal fiat condition from which it was bent for release. This movement is imparted to the nails, tending tol snap them out of the loader-passages. Further, it is notV always easy to so locate the fixed releasing means that it will not interfere with associated movable elements of the machine. According toy another arrangement, the latching means for the gate is carried b-y a handle through which the operator shifts the loading member, the gate being released by movement of the'handle and latch upon the loading member, when the delivery-point is reached. It is found that some operators move the loading member so abruptly that the gate will be tripped prematurely. Then too, if the loading member is power-driven, this last gatereleasing means is not available.V It is an object of' my invention to bring about the release of the nails by means which Vis independent of the manner of loader-actuation, which ensures proper delivery and which is free from interference.

In the attainment of this object, I combine with a nail-transferring member or movable loader-arm and its nail-retaining member or gate, a movable latch for the gate, anda member, preferably in the form of a lever, fulcrumed upon the transferring member in engagement with the latch and movable by contact with a relatively fixed member to release the retaining member. As herein illustrated, the latch is furnished by a pin engaged by the lever, which alsohas such means, as a screw, arranged for contact with the frame of the machine, which will move the lever and pin to release the gate and which may be adjusted to vary the time of such release. This organization operates positively without nail-displacing distortion of the gate, and equally Well for manual or power-operation. The latch-lever may readily be so formed and `mounted upon the loader, and its point of contact with the machine-frame or other stationary element so located, that it is clear of all other associated parts. vThe latch-lever is most conveniently made a portion of a compound controlling unit, lseparably mounted upon ythe' loading member. It is to this end fulcrumed upon a bracket secured to said loading member, the `bracketI also carrying aV stop which limits the nail-delivering movement of the loading member, together with, a cam `through which may be operated a member controlling its supply of nails.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention appears in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan View of my improved transferring mechanism, while Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, with certain associated parts omitted.

Pivoted at II) for horizontal movement upon the frame I2 of the machine, which may be for the nailing'of heels upon shoes, such as is Vmade the subject of Letters Patent of the United States No; 1,157,688, Glidden, October 26, 1915,v is a floader-arm I4.

At its forward extremity the arm carries a loader-block IB, in which are vertical nail-holdi-ng passages I8 arranged lin according vwith a particular inserting design. The loader-arm mayy be moved either directly by the operator through a handle 20, or under the power of the machine by way of a link 22 pivoted to the arm. This oscillation of the arm shifts the vloader-bl'ock between a position at which it may receive loads of nails from an unillustrated `distributor or supplied by hand, to one overl the die-block 24 of the heeler. In the latter position, the nail-passages I8 register with passages l2li in the die-block. Pivoted upon the loaderfarm is a gate or shutter 3), which may be of sheetmetal and which at its outer extremity is enlarged horizontally. As the gate is turned upon its pivot, this enlargement may be caused. to lie below the block-passages I8. These passages are thereby closed, so nails supplied to the block may be retained temporarily; A spring 32, ex-

tending between the pivoted end of the loaderarm and the outer portion of the gate, exerts its force to urge saidl gate clear of the block-passages to permit discharge of the nails. This movement of the gate is prevented, except when the passages I8 are in registration with the die-passages 26, bythe latch now to be described.

Attached to the arm I4, at 34, 34, is a bracket 35, having an upwardly projecting portion 38. Pivoted at 40 upon this bracket-portion for'vertical oscillation is a bell-crank-lever 42, provided with a generally horizontal arm M extending outwardly along the loader-arm and with a generally vertical downwardly extending arm 46. The arm 44 of the lever is forked at 41 to embrace a reduced portion of the head 48 of a latchpin 58. This latch-pin passes through a vertical opening 52 in the loader-arm I4, being held against downward displacement by a flange 54 formed about it. When the gate 30 is in its nailretaining relation beneaththe loader-block I6, the pin lies Within an opening 56 in said gate, holding this against the force of the spring 32. When, however, the loader-arm swings over the die-block 24 to make the delivery of tails thereto, a screw 58, threaded horizontally through the arm 46 of the lever 42, engages some relatively fixed element of the machine, as a vertical surface :c upon the frame l2 at the rear of the dieb1ock. This lifts the pin 50 from the opening the nails from the loader-block to agree with the registration of the loader-block-passages with Vthose in the die-block.

The bracket 3B also preferably serves as a support for a screw 60, threaded horizontally through the upper bracket-portion 38. This, by

its contact with the frame-surface x, determines the registration of the loader-block-passages with the die-block-passages. Further, there may be secured to the upper extremity of the bracket-portion 38 a cam 62, which, by engagement with a vertical rod 64, will cause the delivery of nails from a distributor, if such a mechanism may be employed. A tripping mechanism of this character is disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,934,109, Balcom, Decem- A.

ber 11, 1934. A slot-and-screw connection 66 allows the cam to be adjusted upon the bracket to alter its timing. All the bracket-borne elements are conveniently mounted together above the loader-arm for removal or replacement, en-

tirely clear of unrelated elements of the machine. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a nail-transferring member, of a nail-retaining member movable movable by contact with a relatively fixed por;

tion of the machine to actuate said latch,

3. In a nailing machine, a frame, a loader-arm provided with nail-passages and movable upon the frame between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, a gate co-operating with the passages, a spring urging the gate from its nailretaining relation, a lever fulcrumed upon the arm, and a latch-pin for the gate engaged by the lever, the lever being movable by contact with the frame to free the gate from the latch-pin.

4. In a nailing machine, a frame, a loader-arm provided with nail-passages and movable upon the frame between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, a gate co-operating with the passages, a spring urging the gate from its nailretaining relation, a lever fulcrumed upon the arm, a latch-pin for the lgate engaged by the leven-the lever being movable by contact with the frame to free the gate from the latch-pin, and means arrangedto vary the time of release of the gate.

5. In a nailing machine, a frame, a loader-arm provided with nail-passages and pivoted to oscillate upon the frame between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, a gate co-operating with the passages, a spring urging the gate from its nail-retaining relation, a lever fulcrumed upon the arm and having generally horizontal and generally vertical arms, a latch-pin for the gate engaged by the horizontal arm of the lever, and a screw threaded through the vertical lever-arm and movable in the oscillation of the loader-arm into contact with the frame.

6. In a nailing machine, a frame, a loader-arm provided with nail-passages and movable upon the frame between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, a gate co-operating with the passages, a latch for the gate, a bracket separably secured to the loader-arm, a latch-actuating member movable upon the bracket, an adjustable contact member carried by the actuating member and arranged to move said actuating member by engagement with the frame, and an adjustable stop member carried by the bracket for contact with the frame.

7. In a nailing machine, a frame, a loader-arm provided with nail-passages and movable upon the frame between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, a gate co-operating with the passages, a latch for the gate, a bracket separably secured to the loader-arm, a latch-actuating member movable upon the bracket, an adjustable contact member carried by the actuating member and arranged to move said actuating member by engagement with the frame, an adjustable stop member carried by the bracket for contact with the frame, and a nail-controlling member mounted upon the bracket.

8. In a nailing machine, a frame, a loader-arm provided with nail-passages and pivoted to oscillate upon the frame between nail-receiving and nail-delivering positions, a gate co-operating with the passages, a latch for the gate, a bracket separably secured to the loader-arm, a lever fulcrumed upon the bracket and by an arm of which the latch is carried, a screw threaded through the lever for contact with the frame, and Aa screw threaded through the bracket for contact with the frame, both screws being carried into contact with the frame by the oscillation yof the loader-arm.

WILLIAM S. DALLAS. l 

